Member's Press Release

Release Date: 12/30/2013
Contact: Stacey Ruckle, (304) 340-3365

Speaker Miley

House Leadership Concerned about Flood Insurance Increases

Out of deep concern for West Virginians who are now facing drastically rising flood insurance premiums because of a change to federal law, the House of Delegates leadership team plans to urge Congress to address the problem.
“West Virginia residents and small business owners who work hard are being hit with shockingly high flood insurance costs,” House Speaker Tim Miley said. “I don’t believe that the people in Washington D.C. realize the effect the changes to the National Flood Insurance Program are having on people who are living in low flood-risk areas here in West Virginia..”

In 2012, Congress passed a flood insurance reform act intended to bolster the National Flood Insurance Program, which is deeply in debt following disasters such as Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Katrina.

Delegate Randy Swartzmiller said many people his Northern Panhandle district are receiving notice of premium hikes.

“It is our understanding that rates for homes that are inland – such as homes in my district in the Ohio Valley – are skyrocketing to compensate for the losses in coastline areas that have been hit so hard in recent years,” Delegate Swartzmiller said. “While we believe in providing federal disaster aid, the effect in this instance is that homeowners and business-owners who are not facing a significant flood risk are being forced to pay for the loss of beach-front dwellings vulnerable to tropical storms and hurricanes.

“That simply isn’t fair.”

Speaker Miley said House leadership members intend to introduce at the outset of the 2014 session a resolution to shed light on how West Virginians are being penalized and to ask Congress to revisit the 2012 insurance act.
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